“Hitched to Everything” – March 1, 2026

Rev. Sophia preaching, with Charlyn Bethell, Lynn Bratley, Kate Hanson-Plass, Carole Katz, and Guy Urban.

The spiritual practice of Paying Attention can begin by believing yourself to be ‘hitched to everything else in the Universe.’ These words were written by naturalist John Muir in the Yosemite Valley–a sacred place that holds many important lessons for our time. Let’s come together and explore how interdependence, humility, and paying attention to the Everything Else might just quench and renew our spirits in days such as these. See you on Sunday! 

Reading: The following excerpt comes to us from naturalist John Muir. Written in 1894 in his essay The Mountains of California, Muir describes the grandeur of Yosemite Valley:

…A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship.

But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.

Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves.

No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems Spirit itself.

So we will say our prayers here and sleep with our Mother Earth, and the God of the mountains will never fail us.